MILENA VUKOSLAVOVIĆ

NIGDINE - KREČ TREPERI 

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June 7th - June 27th 2025

exhibition opening: Saturday, June 7th at 8PM

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​At the heart of Milena Vukoslavović's painting is the wonder of everyday spaces - those that are completely unimaginative, lifelike, and immediate. And although based on photographic observations, it would be wrong to say that Milena Vukoslavović's paintings are mere observations, because they are a meticulous depiction of each individual scene she encounters. However, it is not the case of pure photorealism - the painter’s aim, in her own words, is that the space of the painting remains sufficiently open and alive, rather than photographically clogged and frozen. From a technical point of view, this refers to the gradual construction of light, the definition of spatial relationships, and gradual materialization, without engaging in excessive description. It is not a case of a passive relationship between the artist and the motif, but the one where the artist and the scene interact, resulting in a completely personal approach based on mere fascination, without the intervention of critical or engaged thought. In most cases, these are completely unimportant, incidental locations - places without identity or specific significance, a sort of non-places.

In his theory of supermodernity, Marc Augé introduces the concept of non-place as a referential determinant of the interpretation of contemporaneity. Our lives are being very much shaped by these spaces in which we spend time on an everyday basis. Those are often spaces with no meaning, spaces that we have no real connection to. For him, non-place is regarded as anthropological space. He discusses “spaces in which neither identity, nor relations, nor history really make any sense; spaces in which solitude is experienced as an overburdening or emptying of individuality, in which only the movement of the fleeting images enables the observer to hypothesize the existence of a past and glimpse the possibility of a future.” (Augé, Marc, Non-places:Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, London, Verso, 2008.,) Anxiety is often present there, as one of the modes in which our relationship with these spaces is built upon. As an antidote to this, with her paintings Milena brings a new atmosphere, which instead of anxiety or pathos, evokes tranquility and melancholy.

Often, contacts of the private and the public are visible - subtly emphasized echoes of the tresspassing of the private into the public space, thereby creating different dynamics of this relationship. The absence of a human figure in Milena Vukoslavović's paintings does not erase the human component contained in them. In fact, this very absence confirms its existence - these are the motifs in which human traces are outlined. And, although devoid of narration - the scenes hint at its fragments. They just as easily function as the starting (or, rather, ending) point of a potential movie scene. Milena thus leaves open the possibility of developing the story for those who want to engage in it, but reminds us that the moment of observation is crucial and it is now and here.

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Milena Vukoslavović (1990, Bar) lives and works in Podgorica. She completed her studies in graphics at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cetinje in 2013. She is involved in drawing, painting, mural painting and illustration. She has exhibited in several group exhibitions in the country and abroad. She exhibited her paintings independently in the space of the CZ "Ribnica" in Podgorica, at the exhibition "Field Notes" (together with Srđa Dragović) in 2021, and at the exhibition "More Pictures from Today's Walk" at the Modern Gallery - Museums and Galleries of Podgorica, (also with Srđa Dragović) in 2022. The same exhibition was shown in Belgrade, at the Studentski Grad Cultural Center in 2023. She has exhibited collectively in several group exhibitions and salons. As a visual artist, she was engaged in the international project "They Live - Student Lives Discovered Through Contextual Art Practices" (2022), managed by the Studentski Grad Cultural Center in Belgrade, and organized by the Institute for Contemporary Art. She was a resident at the Salzamt studio in Linz in 2023.
 

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